Join Eva Shivers and MoW as we walk the Historical Jefferson Street Corridor – from 7th Street to 16th Street in downtown Phoenix. Known as the ‘Black Corridor,’ this 1-mile stretch was and still is considered the heartbeat or epicenter of African American cultural life. As we walk this 1-mile historical and cultural trail, we will acknowledge and pay homage to the educational, religious, political, social and cultural sites of key structures, buildings and places that paralleled key moments in the history of black Phoenicians and part of the national tapestry of civil rights history.

We will begin our 30-minute walk at Tanner Chapel AME Church – the first African American church in Phoenix and the site where Martin Luther King Jr. came to speak in 1964. We’ll end our trail at Eastlake Park – the oldest park in the city, and the social cornerstone for African American life in Phoenix. We will end our trek with an exploration of the peace markers located at Eastlake Park, poetry recited by local students, and a brief discussion about coming together for greater racial harmony and equity.

“If there were to be a ray of light through a sky of racial storms, peace and calm amidst the chaos and disorder of segregation and suppression, Eastlake Park would be this light, this peace and calm.”